Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One of a set of quantum-mechanical descriptions of the possible state of a physical system, using the mathematics of eigenvectors and generally existing in a state of superposition until the moment of observation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun physics A dynamic quantum mechanical state whose wave function is an eigenvector that corresponds to a physical quantity

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[eigen- (as in eigenvalue) + state.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

eigen- +‎ state

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Examples

  • In the Copenhagen formalism, one could calculate the probabilities of various outcomes assuming a measurement was taken at a particular time; during the interval between measurements, those “probability amplitudes” changed in definite, calculatable ways, while at the instant of measurement, another process took over and caused the system being measured to settle into a single eigenstate.

    On Quantum Theory And Parapsychology 2008

  • For ten points, calculate in the Heisenberg picture the time evolution of a harmonic oscillator state produced by acting on the lowest-energy eigenstate with a spatial translation operator.

    On Quantum Theory And Parapsychology 2008

  • I suspect that DM consists largely of neutralinos, which is a mixed eigenstate of the supersymmetric pairs of the photon, Higgs and Z particle.

    Dark Matter Detector Heading to the ISS This Summer | Universe Today 2010

  • Provided we maintain the eigenvalue-eigenstate link, the quantum description by means of that state function will yield neither conclusion, and hence the quantum description is incomplete.

    The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Argument in Quantum Theory Fine, Arthur 2009

  • In this formulation of the argument it is clear that locality-separability conflicts with the eigenvalue-eigenstate link, which holds that a quantity of a system has an eigenvalue if and only if the state of the system is an eigenstate of that quantity with that eigenvalue (or a mixture of such eigenstates).

    The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Argument in Quantum Theory Fine, Arthur 2009

  • Probably the likeliest candidate is the neutralino, which is a mixed eigenstate or condensate of the supersymmetric pairs of the photon, higgs and Z_0 particle.

    New CMB Measurements Support Standard Model | Universe Today 2009

  • Of course it may also be possible to break the EPR argument for the dilemma plausibly by questioning some of its other assumptions (e.g., separability, the reduction postulate, or the eigenvalue-eigenstate link).

    The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Argument in Quantum Theory Fine, Arthur 2009

  • B.when measured, unless the quantum state is an eigenstate of the measured observable A, the system does not possess any categorical property corresponding to A's having a specific value in the set B. Putnam seems to assume that a realist interpretation of (*) should consist in assigning to A some unknown value within B. for which quantum mechanics yields a non-trivial probability.

    Puppet X: 1 2009

  • That eigenstate applies to the reality there and that eigenstate enables us to predict a determinate position for Niels 'system with probability one.

    The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Argument in Quantum Theory Fine, Arthur 2009

  • It certifies that the predicted position value, corresponding to the position eigenstate, is an element of the reality that pertains to Niels 'system.

    The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Argument in Quantum Theory Fine, Arthur 2009

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